Operation Momotarou
Operation Momotarou is the military operation conducted by the JSDF upon the request of assistance from the Topa Kingdom to destroy the Demon Lord, Nosgorath and his demonic army. Prehistory The Legends of the Topa Kingdom and the Descent of the Demon Lord Once upon a time, a demon lord suddenly came out of nowhere. Its name was Nosgorath. It came from Grameus, the land of demons, leading a great army and wielding many types of magic. With it were beasts of legend, the Red and Blue Ogres, the White and Yellow Ogres, and an army comprised of various other beasts of lower intelligence. They had come to invade Topa. The island of Topa, which was just a small village back then, quickly fell, and the Demon Lord’s army next surged into Fillades. There were no countries in Fillades back then either, and humanity as a whole was weak. Most of Fillades fell into the Demon Lord’s control. His army had terrifying magic at its disposal. They were blight on the land. They even used seaborne demonic beasts to cross the ocean to Rodenius to fight the elves. The coalition of races struggled in vain, and the Demon Lord’s army invaded the elves’ final bastion, the Sacred Forest, the sanctuary of the elven god. Many valiant warriors were crushed, and the elves’ most talented mages fell in battle. The elven god, the God of Green, prayed to the God of the Sun, creator of the lower gods. The God of the Sun answered those prayers by sending down the emissaries of the sun. The emissaries rode the divine flying ships and cast fearsome sorcery that summoned thunderous lightning that set the ground ablaze, driving off the Demon Lord’s army. The coalition of races then forced the Demon Lord’s army off Rodenius, eventually gong to Fillades themselves. The emissaries of the sun used their powerful magic to push the demons out of Fillades and what is now the Topa Kingdom, all the way back to Grameus. After the threat was neutralized, the God of the Sun called the emissaries back from this world. The coalition of races then built the wall called the Doors to the World and created both a castle town and a new kingdom. That kingdom would later become the Topa Kingdom. One year after the Demon Lord’s invasion, the remainder of the coalition of races formed a subjugation unit. This unit would later be known as the “heroes of legend,” and it consisted of four heroes: * The human sword master Ta Roh * The dwarven fighter Kiege * The supreme elven magus Rusa * The beastman military specialist Kenshiva The heroes journeyed into Grameus and vanquished the White Ogre and the Yellow Ogre. They then challenged the Demon Lord Nosgoorah, but it was too powerful. After betting their lives, the four heroes managed to seal the Demon Lord. The magical barrier required the sacrifice of three of the heroes, and the only survivor, the beastman Kenshiva, returned to tell this story. The power of the barrier would slowly decay over time. As the years passed, the story simply turned into an old legend where no one was sure which parts were true and which were fantasy. The Doors of the World (Wall) Invasion The continent of Fillades was west of Japan. In the northeast of Fillades was a large island about as large as Shikoku. There was a natural bridge that was only 200 meters wide but 30 kilometers long that connected the island to the continent. The country that called this island home was none other than the Topa Kingdom. To the northeast of Topa was another bridge, this one 100 meters wide and 40 kilometers long that joined them with the continent of Grameus. Grameus was populated with creatures called demons. There were no settlements of humans or demi-humans there. No one could communicate with demons, and they attacked all the human races on sight. Demons did not have any kind of civilization; they simply used their superior physical abilities to hunt people in a berserk rampage. For Japanese people, if they were to describe demons in a single word, that word would be “pests.” In the northeastern region of Topa, there was a castle town called Tormis that stood between the Topa Kingdom and the demons of Grameus. Its walls blocked off the natural bridge and were known as the Doors to the World. They had repelled countless demon invasions. Topan soldiers were permanently stationed at the Doors to the World, and the castle town Tormis was founded to support those soldiers. The citizens of Topa were very proud that their country guarded the world from demon invasions. From what the superpowers and the civilized areas have said, the suppression of demons allows them to maintain order and focus on developing their countries. Without the people of Topa, humanity wouldn’t be as prosperous. Over a hundred goblins on the ground headed invading to the Doors of the World from Grameus behind those two ogres, the Red Ogre and the Blue Ogre, there was a red land dragon that was about three times larger than the Papaldia Empire’s land dragons. The Demon Lord Nosgoorah rode on top of that red Scarlet Dragon. With the land completely covered in demons, the swarm got closer and closer to the wall. For the time being, the 150 Topan soldiers on watch on the wall had to keep them at bay. The knight Moah and the sellsword Gai reached to Castle Town Tormis for emergency on their horses. The demonic army had breached the Doors to the World. The Topa watch force had been wiped out. A Call For Help Tormis’s 5,000 elite soldiers were currently fending off the sudden attack of the Demon Lord’s 20,000-strong army. 15,000 more soldiers had already departed from royal capital Berngen and were on their way to reinforce Tormis. However, it was not enough army to defeat them. Topa Kingdom needs to ask for reinforcements. They sent this request to the Japan and the Parpaldia Empire for a platoon of reinforcements. The Parpaldia imperial 3rd foreign affairs representative had ignored and refused to provide small platoon reinforcements during the empire was busy a bit occupied. Topa Kingdom was unable to secure reinforcements from the Papaldia Empire. Then the Topan ambassador came to ask Japan to send reinforcements to subjugate the Demon Lord. Some days later, the Japanese government decided to send the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force on an international aid mission to suppress destructive wildlife. Battle Plan and Unexpected Combat The Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Special Topa Kingdom Deployment’s advance platoon (mission name: Operation Momotarou) had been deployed to Castle Town Tormis in the northeast region of the Topa Kingdom in order to save the world from the threat of the Demon Lord. The Japanese army arrived with type 10 battle tank at the southern gate of Tormis under the care of Topan escorts. Momota and his Japanese soliders attended with Moah and knights in the meeting room. Introductions were exchanged. After everyone sat down at the round table, they confirmed the state of affairs. * The Demon Lord’s army of about 20,000 strong suddenly invaded the Topa Kingdom from Grameus, breaking through the Doors of the World and completely wiping out the standing army there. * After that, the Demon Lord’s army invaded a district on the north side of Castle Town Tormis called Minaisa. * At this time, reinforcements from the Topan army reached Tormis, and they engaged the enemy forces to prevent them from invading further. * The Demon Lord took up residence in a local lord’s mansion and never left it. * There were still about 600 residents in Minaisa who were unable to evacuate. Once a day, they’re gathered in the town square, and several are taken away to be eaten by the Demon Lord or other demons. Of the initial 600 who couldn’t run away, there were only 200 left. * The Demon Lord’s army has lost about 3,000 goblins and 10 orcs, while the kingdom has lost about 2,000 knights. * They’ve tried to launch rescue missions for the hostages 3 times, but every time either the Red Ogre or the Blue Ogre were keeping watch in the town square, so they’ve had to retreat each time with heavy losses. Because their only routes to Minaisa were side streets, many knights were dying each time. They were deadlocked. * Because hostages were being eaten each day, they needed to save them as soon as possible. After hearing the explanation, Momota understood the urgency for rescuing the hostages. Momota knew that the civilians needed to be rescued as soon as possible, and that waiting for the main Japanese forces to arrive would subject Topa and its people to needless suffering and damage. As the platoon leader, he decided to exercise his authority and made the call to exterminate the ogres first. The preliminary meeting disbanded. As soon as everyone stood up from their seats, a black object flew in from the window. The glass window shattered. A black object fell into the room. The object grew black feathers and white clothes. It was Demon Lord’s aide, Malastriss. Moah and knights pulled out their swords and took a stance, facing him. Malastriss lunged for the knight captain with its hand out. In front of that hand, the air distorted as it summoned a black flame with its mana. The vice-captain shouted, slashing at Malastriss’ side. Malastriss moved its hand to point at the vice-captain instead and cast a spell. The vice-captain was engulfed in hellish black flames. The black flames burned him to cinders. The air was now thick with heat and the agony of death. The Japanese soldiers looked somewhat flustered. The four Japanese soldiers’ rifles were emitting fire from one end, and superfast bullets of light were assaulting Malastriss. It didn’t even have the opportunity to let out a death cry; Malastriss, its body chock full of holes, crumpled to the ground. Behind it, a part of the stone wall also crumbled into pieces. Everyone was speechless. The Demon Lord’s aide, Malastriss, was a cold-blooded plague. Because of that, they suffered from countless magical attacks from the sky; truly times of hardship. Malastriss alone was responsible for the deaths of over 100 knights. Then, it started aiming specifically for the knight order’s leaders. Even though it did not fly itself, its overwhelming mana was a significant threat. An hour later, they held a strategy meeting to discuss the rescue of Minaisa’s residents that lasted late into the night. Two days later, in the early morning, the advance platoon of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force Special Topa Kingdom Deployment departed from the castle gate and made for the Minaisa district of Tormis. Extermination of Blue and Red Ogres In the middle of the day, all the survivors from the Demon Lord’s invasion were gathered in the town square in Tormis. Demons watched the entire area, so they couldn’t run away. There was one person who tried to escape before, but he was quickly caught then cooked right in front of everyone. The demons had laughed and pointed at the torture. They repeated this each day, taking several people away to be eaten. The kingdom’s knights tried to rescue them many times, but the Red Ogre had destroyed the main road connecting the town square to the castle gate, so it was not traversable. Ellay remembered an old story about the Demon Lord’s army fighting against the elves, the God of the Sun heard the prayers of the elves’ god and sent down messengers to fight them. She was an elf herself; even though she did not believe in any gods, she prayed anyway. At that moment, the Red Ogre went up in smoke. A hand grenade was tossed at the Red Ogre’s feet from the side street that it was guarding. The JSDF soldiers ran down the narrow street. The hand grenade had absolutely no effect, and the Red Ogre run fast down the side street as well. The soldiers all hid behind the Mitsubishi Type 89 IFV. The Red Ogre was still running down the side street. There weren’t any other people near it. The Type 89’s 35mm cannon roared. The 35mm was so powerful it could essentially evaporate a human body, and it opened up several large holes in the Red Ogre. It fell where it was hit, like a marionette with its strings cut. The Red Ogre died. A mob of other demons rushed at the Type 89. A detached force of JSDF soldiers whose task was to rescue the civilians traveled through the now-dry water supply and jumped out of the water fountain in the town square. There were ten goblin lords guarding the hostages. The goblin lords were quickly eliminated. Moah and Gai also jumped out of the water fountain. Gai made a beeline for the goblin lord and slashed it with his sword. The goblin lord couldn’t defend itself and perished. Ellay was saved by swordsman Moah who attacked that demon, quickly killing an ogre that it had caught her by the hand, intending for her to be the Demon Lord’s meal. The rest of the demons in the town square were quickly eliminated. As planned, the Topan knight order would now leave from the castle gate to join up with them. At the same time, the JSDF began to evacuate the residents. They needed to travel 1.5 kilometers to the castle gate. It was both a short and long distance. They moved as a group together with all the citizens. After about 500 meters, they met with the knight order and continued traveling to the castle gate as a combined group. That was when it happened. They heard a fierce war cry. The Blue Ogre gathered forty orcs and started to run. The citizens all fell into a panic. This group would definitely catch up to them before they reached the castle gate. It took ten human knights to defeat a single orc. But if orcs attacked in a group, they could easily handle more than ten times their number in knights. Furthermore, they had the legendary Blue Ogre with them. It was no use. The humans thought they had rescued the hostages, but they’d soon find out that none of them were saved at all. JGSDF were lining up in the back, and they took aim at the Blue Ogre within the group of orcs. There were only about fifteen of them. If there were only that many soldiers, they couldn’t do a thing. There was no point. They probably wanted to earn a bit more time for the people to run, to protect them in whatever way they could. However, with only fifteen of them, they were just going to die themselves while gaining nearly no extra time. Despite that, the knights kept running with the people for the castle gates. They were sacrificing another country’s soldiers to protect their own citizens. JSDF soldiers had formed a horizontal line and pointed their black staves at the demons. A rain of light bullets converged on the orcs. All those strong, hardy demons instantly collapsed. The attacks continued. The orcs were mostly all killed, but the soldiers kept shooting their bullets of light at one last demon that continued charging at them. Their attacks had absolutely no effect on the Blue Ogre. JSDF Squad Leader Kijima Hitoshi was carrying an extra-large magic wand on his back. He took it out and aimed the tube at the Blue Ogre. Smoke came out of both the front and back of the tube, and at the same time the sound of a detonation echoed all around. An instant later, the Blue Ogre abruptly burst into pieces. The Ground Self-Defense Force somehow dealt with the invading demons occupying the town square, and they were able to successfully rescue everyone in the northern Minaisa district of Tormis. However, it was an extremely risky mission. The demon known as the “Blue Ogre” took no damage from their smaller automatic weapons at all. They weren’t called ogres for nothing. The JSDF was completely shocked by the existence of creatures that couldn’t be hurt by guns. They belatedly realized that wyverns were also fairly impervious to handguns. This really was another world. The most effective weapons were the 35mm cannon in the initial attack and the Carl Gustaf during the evacuation that was brought along just in case. Platoon leader Momota nodded in satisfaction. The Return of the Emissaries of the Sun Momota woke up and received a report from his subordinates. The Demon Lord Nosgoorah had appeared, alone, on the main street between Minaisa’s town square and the castle gate. Apparently, it was completely enraged. Momota immediately ordered his men to prepare for combat. He could hear the sounds of knights shouting rallying cries and horses galloping. Apparently, 200 Topan knights just went on the attack. The Demon Lord had come out all alone. A northern aristocrat, Abon, thought this was a chance to defeat it, so he gathered up 200 of his men and led a charge from the castle gate. There was only one enemy, so numbers should easily crush it. Horses kicked up clouds of dust as they carried the knights straight at the solitary Demon Lord, someone even the heroes of legend could not defeat. Dark mana visibly emanated from the Demon Lord Nosgoorah. The Demon Lord raised its hands at the Topan knights, summoning black flames. The black hellfire coalesced into the shape of a bird and flew toward the knights. The bird of flame grew and swooped down on the charging warriors. Every knight and horse was swallowed up in the black flames and turned to ash. Soldiers who watched the entire sequence from above the castle gate were in shock at the display of Demon Lord’s strength. The Demon Lord began to cast even more magic. The ground rose up and gathered into a large clump of stone. The clump took on the shape of a person then began to move. It was gigantic. Among demihumans, elves had the most mana, and even their most powerful mages could only create golems that were about two meters tall. This golem was a staggering seventeen meters. It called Ancient Kaiser Golem. The Topan soldiers could only watch in growing despair as the overwhelmingly large golem came closer and closer to the castle. There was nothing they could do to stop it. Suddenly, ten people in black robes with golden rings on their heads appeared on wall. The Royal Combat Mage Special Task Force was a group of elite mages rumored be even more powerful than the heroes of legend. They were the Topa Kingdom’s hidden weapon. The leader ordered, and the group of task force mages began to chant Dragon Thunder Storm. A giant tornado mixed with lightning appeared above the Ancient Kaiser Golem and the Demon Lord. The soldiers on top of the castle gate cheered in excitement. So this was the power of the super-elite special task force that was purported to surpass the heroes of old. The tornado eventually dissipated, but it was no effect to stop them. The ten mages all fell on their knees, panting in exhaustion, their mana completely spent. The Demon Lord was still leaking tremendous amounts of dark mana from its body. At the Demon Lord’s order, the seventeen meters Ancient Kaiser Golem marched from the south of the Minaisa district towards the castle gate. If the castle gate were to fall, the Demon Lord’s massive army would no longer be obstructed from their rampage. With the golem’s enormous mass, any attack would demolish the gate. No one could stop it now. Everyone was resigned to death. Suddenly, the steel beast under Japanese control let out a roar. While the special task force was engaging the Demon Lord, the JGSDF Special Topa Kingdom Deployment advance platoon was also preparing for battle. The heavy door was lifted, and Momota was greeted by a five-story-high rock monster coming straight towards him. This was certainly welcome advice. Since the target was so big, this time they would lead with the Type 10 battle tank. Sitting there behind the gate was something the Demon Lord remembered well about the sun god’s messengers and their iron dragons. However, what was in front of it didn’t quite match the iron dragons from its memories. This one was bigger, and it had a more polished shape. It still had that obnoxious horn that spewed explosive magic, though that too looked far larger and heavier than what the Demon Lord remembered. The Demon Lord ordered Ancient Kaiser Golem to crush them. The golem immediately moved to obey. The JGSDF’s Type 10 battle tank pointed its main gun towards the colossal rock monster and fired. The Japan Steel Works 120mm smoothbore cannon, capable of an initial firing velocity of 1600 m/s, shot right at the center of the rock golem’s chest. The shell pierced the front of the golem, blew through its interior, and burst out the back along with numerous rock fragments, opening an even larger exit would. The golem’s core was completely destroyed, causing the rock monster to quickly lose mana and crumble to pieces. The monster that the Topa Kingdom could do nothing to stop was easily dispatched by a single shot from the JGSDF’s Type 10 battle tank. No one could move an inch. The soldiers on top of the gate watched the entire thing and could not look away from the golem rubble. It was surreal, the sight of that legendary stone giant loudly crashing to the ground. Behind the remains of the rock monster, the thing called the Demon Lord Nosgoorah jumped up into the air. It was astonishing physical ability brought it up fifty meters. There was a black flame gathering in the Demon Lord’s hand. The Demon Lord began to chant the spell. On top of the castle wall, JSDF Squad Leader Inugami Tsuyoshi was already waiting, prepared, and began to act even before the order came. He quickly and accurately readied the familiar Type 91 SAM in his hands, then immediately locked-on to the Demon Lord. Compared to the Stinger, the Type 91 was better for frontal attacks and instantaneous interception; he aimed at the Demon Lord, which was still chanting its spell in midair, and fired. The homing missile flew straight for the Demon Lord. As soon as it saw “that,” the Demon Lord flew up at high speed, canceled its offensive magic, and activated a defensive magic shield. A pale, golden-colored wall materialized in front of it. It was a direct hit. The missile exploded near its head, blasting the Demon Lord straight into the ground at high speed. The JSDF soldiers all fired their automatic weapons. Countless bullets from numerous people hammered into the monster. Bullet casings fell to the ground in streams, tinkling lightly amidst the sound of metal colliding with a hard object. The Demon Lord got up, as though nothing happened, and began to walk towards the castle. The 12.7mm machine gun atop the Type 96 Armored Personnel Carrier began firing now as well. The Demon Lord’s feet stopped as it took a defensive stance. It still looked unwounded. The Type 89 IFV’s 35mm cannon began firing consecutive shots. While the golden wall glowed as brightly as ever, the Demon Lord was starting to look less assured of it. Little by little, it appeared that its body was taking slight wounds. Its feet were now sunk ten centimeters into the ground; every cannon shot forced it back a bit. Once the Type 10 tank was reloaded, it turned to face the Demon Lord. The Type 10’s 120mm smoothbore cannon fired. It was in a stable, unmoving position, and the target was at close-range and immobile. The shell hit the Demon Lord, blowing its body into pieces before blasting through a building behind it and detonating within the next building further behind it. Everything was now completely silent. The soldiers in the Topan army were gaping at the scene before them. They had all just witnessed a mythical battle, a fight far more fierce and intense than the one that described the heroes of legend. “Curse you!” echoed a clear voice; it came from the Demon Lord’s head. It was loud enough for everyone in the area to hear. The Demon Lord Nosgoorah’s final dying words “Curse you, messengers of the sun god!!! Not once, but twice have you interfered in my mission!!! Hear me well, insects!!! Soon, the empire of sorcerers will return!!! The insects’ rule is coming to an end!!! Before the might of the sorcerous empire’s army, you will all be powerless and forced into slavery!!! Haah, haah, ha…” The voice weakened as it spoke, then the Demon Lord’s head turned to stone and crumbled into dust. The demons of the Demon Lord’s army, having lost their leader, cried in fury and escaped north, back to Grameus, like an avalanche of living bodies. The Topan army was burning what happened before their eyes into memory. Cheers of victory went up on top of the castle wall, spreading to all the soldiers in the castle. Those cheers eventually infected the entire castle town of Tormis. Finally, Japan defeated the Demon Lord. It gave a speech as it died, but the most startling thing it said was this: “Soon, the empire of sorcerers will return!!!” Aftermath The sun was beginning to set. It had been a fierce battle. Many soldiers were just sitting on the ground. During the invasion of the Demon Lord’s army, even though the demons were wild and unorganized, the Topan army lost 3,000 men. But they defended their country. The people of Topa held back the Demon Lord before it could invade Fillades and lasted until its army was defeated. They had been released from their fear, and now a sense of accomplishment was setting in. The deeds of this day would become extremely prominent in the Topa Kingdom’s history books. There was an extravagant victory celebration that night, and word of the JSDF’s great efforts spread among the Topan citizens. Sentiments towards Japan became incredibly positive, and the Topa Kingdom would soon become a close friend and ally to Japan. Meanwhile, Rydorka was flabberghasted. He was an information officer from the strongest nation in the world, the Holy Mirishial Empire, and he had come to observe the war between the Topa Kingdom and the Demon Lord’s army. His mission was to observe the Demon Lord Nosgoorah, the legacy of the ancient sorcerous empire, and record its mana capacity, the types of magic it used, and how it interacted with the human races. He didn’t detect any magic from Japan’s weapon, so it must have been something similar to Mu’s machine technology. Japan quickly destroyed the golem, and then the Demon Lord made a great leap into the air. Right then, a soldier fired another Japanese weapon that he could see corrected itself in midair to crash into the Demon Lord. It behaved very similarly to a light magic homing missile that the empire was currently developing, but it was not suitable for practical use yet, and it was limited to naval warfare. This was truly a weapon of the future, a homing explosive that was small enough to be carried around by a single person. The beings that created the strongest nation in the history of the world, a race that stood above all other humanoid races, with potential for magic that far, far surpassed humans and even the elves. They left behind many artifacts that even the Holy Mirishial Empire could not begin to understand. Every once in a while, some of their ruins would be discovered, which just reaffirmed how truly advanced the ancient sorcerous empire was. Their civilization simply progressed too far, which was what led to their attempt to supplant the gods. And, from the words of the Demon Lord, that terrifying empire would soon return. Rydorka immediately prepared to return to Holy Mirishial Empire for reports. The true identity of the Emissaries of the Sun After a while, a group Japanese archaeologists came to the sacred forest of the Elves to investigate the divine ship left behind by the so-called Messengers of the Sun. Much to their shock, the divine ship was turned out to be the Zero Fighter, indicating that the Emissaries of the Sun were none other than a company of Imperial Japan army back in WW2. This discovery made the Japanese government try to find out out how their past ancestors managed to get back to the Earth so the country could return to their home-world in the future. They also looking for records where there are a possibility a Japanese soldier went MIA (Missing In Action) during that time. Note * The operation is named after the hero in Japanese folklore, Momotarou who comes to the island of the demon to slay the demon king. * This is the first assault conducted by Ravernal Empire's remnants as the Demon Lord pledge his allegiances to Ravernal Empire. 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